Festooning rack



Feb. 23 1926. 1,573,821

J. R. GAMMETER FESTOONING RACK Filed June 27, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Q In lien [or JR. aammeler Feb. 23 1926.

J. R. GAMMETER FESTOONING RACK Filed June 2'7, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 r a n m I .12. fiamnwler yW Patented Feb. 23, 1926.

UNITED 'STA TES 4 1,573,321- PATENT OFFICE.

JIOHIIM' B. GAMMETER, OF AKRON, OHIO, ASSIGNOB TO THE 3. F. GOODBIGH COMPANY OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION 01 NEW YORK.

FESTOONING BACK.

Applicationflled June 27, 1921. Serial No. 480,678.

To all whom it may concern 7 Be it known that I, JOHN R. GAMMETER, a citizen of the United States, residirv at Akron in the county of Summit and State 5 of Oh1o,- have invented a certain new and useful Festooning Rack, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to means for availably holding a surplus of continuousstrip material between a source of supply and a place of disposal where the rate of supply or disposal, or both, are intermittent or irregular. The particular embodiment herein described and illustrated in the accompanying 1 drawings is adapted to hold in festoons a variable uantity of tire fabric between a ply-up ta 1e and a tire-building machine.

eretofore it has been common practice to .reel up the tire fabric strip as it is plied u a cloth liner being interwound with t. e rubberized'tire fabric to prevent successive c'onvolutions of the latter from sticking to each other on the reel or drum, the reels of fabric then being carried to the tire-building machine.

The object of my invention is to provide an improved festooning rack of simple construction adapted, among other uses, to be used between a ply-up table and a tire-building machine, and thus to reduce the work of transferring the strip material from the source of supply to the point of disposal while compensating irregularity or intermittence in the rates of supply and disposal, and in the case of tire fabric to eliminate the use of a liner. I

Of the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a preferred embodiment of my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same.

Referring to the drawings:

The device comprises a frame consisting of a rectangular base 10, four vertical corner posts 11, 11 mounted thereon, a pair of parallel journal beams 12, 12 respectively ]0lI 1- ing the tops of longitudinally opposite corner osts and extending beyond the same, para el struts 13, 13 joining the ends of said journal beams, and dlagonal braces 14, 14 on the sides of said frame. A series of parallel, spaced, cylindrical rollers 15, 15 extend across the top of said frame, being loosely journaled in the beams At the middle of each end of said frame is a vertical guide post 16 secured in position at the bottom by a brac et 17 extending inward from the base 10 and at the top by a bracket 18, extending inward from a strut 19, spanning said frame between the laterally opposite corner posts. I

A rectangular, floating journal frame, 20, of slightly smaller size than the stationary frame, and formed of parallel longitudinal journal beams 21, 21, and cross beams 22, 22 joining the ends thereof, is slidably mounted between the guide posts 16 and retained thereon by pairs of guide pins 23, 23 mounted upon the cross beams 22, 22 and strad dling said guide posts. 24, 24 is a series of parallel, cylindrical rollers loosely journaled between the longitudinal journal beams 21,

2 1 of the floating frame 20.

. A feed-drum 25 is journaled, parallel to the rollers 15, in one end of the stationary journal beams 12 at the top of the device and secured on a common shaft with a sprocket 26, connected by a sprocket chain 27 with a sprocket 28 journaled farther down on the corner posts 11 upon a shaft provided with jaw-clutch hand-crank 29.

A take-off drum 30 is journaled, parallel with the rollers 15, in the stationary journal beams 12, 12 at the opposite or delivery end of the device, said drum being secured to a common shaft with a gear 31. 32 is a gear journaled upon the frame in mesh with gear 31, and on a common hub with a sprocket 33 connected by a sprocket chain 34 with a sprocket 35 upon a tire-building machine 36, the last said sprocket being secured upon a common shaft with the fabric stretching drum 37 of said machine. Said tire building machine is also provided with guide rollers 38, 39, journaled upon the frame thereof near the fabric stretching drum 37.

At the middle of one side of the device isa vertical guide tube 40 for a Weight 44. 41, 41 is a closely grouped. set of.four pulleys loosely journaled on the top of said guide tube in plage's directed respectively toward the four corners of the device. 42. 42 is a scattered set of four pulleys loosely j'ournaled upon the top of the frame at the respective corners of the device, each pulley of said set being aligned with a pulley of the first said set. 43, 43, 43, 43?. .is a set of four cables or lines attached at one end to respective corners of the floating frame 20, each passing over the corresponding pulleys of the sets 42, 41 and all of the cables are attached at their other ends to the single weight 44 within the guide tube 40. Said weight is preferably considerably lighter than the floating frame 20, including the rollers journaled therein.

A ply-up table is shown at 45 and 46 is a strip of fabric, commonly consisting of lengths of bias cut rubberized fabric joined, end to end, upon the ply-up table, in units each of appropriate length and of ap-- propriate widths in its different parts to form a tire, said units being joined by l *zpieces of fabric called leaders, not destined to become a part of the tire, to form the one continuous strip 46. Said strip, as shown, extends from the ply-up table 45 over the feed drum 25, then alternately under a roller of the series 24in the floating frame 20 and'over a roller of the stationary series 15 at the top of the device, throughout said series, then over the take-off drum 30, and the guide rollers 38, 39 of the tire building machine, under the fabric stretching drum 37, and onto the core of said tire .building machine.

An elevated position of the floating frame 20 is represented in dotted lines at 20*, Fig. 1. 47 is a vertical metal push rod slidably mounted upon one of the stationary journal beams 12 at the top of the device and provided with a weight 48 at its bottom and with a laterally extending contact arm 49 adapted to contact with a spring-pressed contact rod 50 also slidably mounted on said beam 12. 51 is an electricbell secured to said beam, and connected with a normally open battery circuit of which the contact members 49,- 5,0 constitute the terminals, the push rod 47 and the contact rod50 being mounted, as shown, on o posite sides of the beam 12, which may e of wood, for insulation, or said rods may be otherwise insulated from each other.

- sult.

In the operation of thedevice, the fabric strip is threaded through the festooning rack as stated above and as shown clearly in Fig. 1, and started upon the tire core, with an excess of fabric hanging in a festoon as shown at 52, Fig. 1, between the take-off drum 30 and the guide roller 38.

As the fabric is drawn onto the .core in building the tire, the turning of the stretching drum 37, through the sprocket 35,

sprocket chain 34, sprocket 33, gears 32, 31

and take-off drum 30, draw an approximately equal amount of fabric from the festooning rack, keeping approximately a constant amount of fabric in the festoon 52, said sprockets, gears and drums being properly proportioned to produce this re- The constant length of the festoon 52 thus preserves a constant tension' in the fabric strip as itpassesover the guide rollers 38, .39 to the stretching drum 37.

As the take=olf drum 30 is turned, drawing fabric from the adjacent festoons, said festoons are put under increased tension, 1

taking an increased share of the weight of the floating frame 20 and relieving the tension of the adjacent cables 43, 43'. The

the opposite end of the floating frame 20,

which isthereby caused to move upward equally .at both ends, slidin up the guide posts 16, thus retaining its iorizontal posi tion, all of the festoons within the rack being equally shortened by the withdrawal of fabric. I

The supply of fabric from the ply-up table 45 is fed into the festooning rack by turning the feed drum 25, by means of the crank 29, sprocket 28, chain-27 and sprocket 26. As fabric is thus reeled into the adjacent festoon, the tension in the latter and other adjacent festoons being relieved, the weight of the/adjacent end of the floating frame 20 is thereby shifted to the adjacent cables 43*, which thereby assume more of the burden of weight 44, lessening'the tension of cables 43 at the opposite or delivery end of the festooning rack and permit-] ting said delivery end of the fioatin frame 20 to descend equally with the opposite end, said floating frame maintaining its horizontal position as it slides down the guide posts 16, and the several festoons within the rack thus being equally elongated.

When t e surplus supply of fabric held in the fes ooning rack becomes small, the rising floating-frame 2O abuts the push rod 47 and by sliding the same upward causes the contact arm 49 to meet the rod 50, closging the battery circuit and ringing the bell 51 as a signal.

A substantial available for the tire builder, notwithstanding the intermittence or irregularity of the supply or the rate of use, the work of transporting fabric from the ply-up table to the tire building machine is lessened,land the use 'of a liner is "eliminated.

. vention and I do not wholly limit my claims to the specific construction shown anddescribed.

I claim:

1. A festooning rack comprising an upper set-of rollers journaled in fixed positions, a lower set of floating rollers adapted to be threaded by the work in alternation with those of the upper set, bearing members for said floating rollers, a counterweight substantially lighter than said set of floating rollers and their appendages, a plurality of lines operatively connecting' said bearing members with said counterweight, and sheaves suitably journaled for said lines,

surplus of fabric is thuskept' said counterwei ht and its connections to said floating rol ers being adapted constantly to equalize the movement of the latter from and toward said upper set of rollers as the work is fed into and withdrawn from the rack. j

2. A festooning rack comprising a series of rollers journaled in fixed positions, a series of floating rollers adapted to be threaded by the stock alternately with the rollers of said fixed series, yielding means exerting automatically-varying forces u on said floating rollers respectively to equa ize their movement relative to said fixed series of rollers, and signaling means adapted to be actuated by the movement of said floating rollers.

3. A festooning rack comprising a series of rollers, a movable frame, a second series of rollers journaled in said movable frame,

means for maintaining the two said series in substantially the same angular relation while one of said series is moved from or toward the other, and signaling means adapted to be actuated by contact of said frame.

4. A festooning rack comprising a series of rollers, a movable frame, a second series of rollers journaled in said movable frame, means for maintaining the two said series in substantially the 'same angular relation while one of said series is moved from or toward the other, and a normally open battery circuit adapted to be closed by the movement of the'last said series, and an electric bell associated with said battery circuit.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 22 day of June, 1921.

JOHN R. GAMMETER. 

